Simon Kelner, the editor of the Independent, said today it was a "badge of honour" for the prime minister to single out his newspaper in his attack on the media.

Mr Kelner added that he regarded Tony Blair's comments as a vindication of the paper's anti-Iraq war stance, saying: "He was wrong, we were right."

He also accused Mr Blair of patronising readers of the Independent, by assuming in his Reuters speech today that they could not tell the difference between news and comment.

"I regard what Blair said as a vindication of our stance on Iraq," Mr Kelner said.

"He was wrong, we were right, and I can understand why he has been upset by the tone and substance of our coverage," he added.

"However, I am completely unapologetic about our stance on what has been the most catastrophic foreign policy mistake of our time.

"In some ways I regard Blair's specific attack on the Independent as something of a badge of honour, and I am pretty sure that our readers will think so to."

Mr Blair said that the Independent was free to write what it wanted about the Middle East and other issues, but that it had strayed from its origins and become "avowedly a viewspaper and not merely a newspaper".

The prime minister also attacked the media generally and said it was "rare today to find balance".

Mr Kelner responded: "It is interesting, by the way, that, spinning to the very end, he couldn't bear to use the word Iraq, preferring to use the term Middle East.

Mr Kelner said that the prime minister had been "patronising" to newspaper readers and misunderstood the changing nature of newspapers in the modern media.

"The free, instant access to news on TV, radio and the internet, means that newspapers are gradually fulfilling a different function in people's lives by presenting the views behind the news, taking an attitude, helping to form opinion, campaigning on issues close to their readers' hearts.

"And I think that it's patronising on his part to think that readers of a paper such as the Independent can't tell the difference between news and views.

Mr Kelner also took issue with the prime minister's suggestion that the regulatory framework of the media needed attention.

"He seems to be suggesting greater regulation for newspapers in line with the broadcast media. How does this square with his avowed belief in a free and vibrant press?," he said.

"And when he blames the press for destroying the primacy of parliament, how does this tally with the constant leaking of policy announcements to the press?

"If he wants journalists to take the workings of parliament seriously, perhaps it would be a good idea if he, and his senior ministers, turned up more often.

"But I accept that there has been a breakdown of trust between the public and politicians, for which the press and the politicians each have to take responsibility for repairing."

In his speech Mr Blair said that the Independent was started as an antidote to the "idea of journalism as views not news".

"First, the original concept of the Independent. Its independence came from an independence of thought, from the idea that whatever you read in the paper, whether it be news or views, was the product of its editorial staff, and was untainted by allegiance to a political party and uninfected by proprietorial influence," he said.

"That is as true today as it was in 1986. We don't have to bow the knee to anyone."

· To contact the MediaGuardian newsdesk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 7239 9857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 7278 2332.

· If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".